


Ballrooms and Bribery (Reylo One-Shot)

by Celestia_ships_reylo



Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Regency, Armitage Hux is So Done, Ballroom Dancing, Ben Solo Loves Rey, Bribery, F/M, It's Hard and Nobody Understands, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Regency Romance, Rey & Rose Tico Are Best Friends, Rey is a Mess (Star Wars), Rey is a Palpatine (Star Wars), Rey is trying to hate him, but she actually loves him, reylo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 09:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27968129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestia_ships_reylo/pseuds/Celestia_ships_reylo
Summary: Rey can’t stand the sight of him. Or, at least, that’s what she tries to convince herself. She has repeatedly rejected his marriage proposals, but still he refuses to dance with anyone but her at every ball. Why can’t he just leave her alone? That’s what she wants...right?They strike a deal. If Rey succeeds in dancing with anyone else at her grandfather’s ball, she will never have to speak so much as a word to him ever again. If she is left without a partner for the entire night, she will have to marry him. Simple enough, she thinks.Little does she know that Ben has bribed every gentleman in the room not to speak to her...
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 9
Kudos: 195





	Ballrooms and Bribery (Reylo One-Shot)

“Benjamin Solo, you absolute _nerf herder!”_

He sighed as he watched her descend the staircase two-at-a-time, lacking the grace that befit her person...but not her personality. If her words had somehow failed to convey her message, her reflection in the mirror before him made it quite clear that she was _not_ happy with him. Nothing new about that.

“To whom do I owe this supremely _gracious_ welcome?” he asked without turning to face her, his voice thick with sarcasm and a hint of amusement.

“You know full well exactly who I am, Solo,” she said, walking up to stand beside him, plainly outraged. “What are you doing in my house??”

“You forget your manners, Miss Palpatine. And you also forget that your grandfather is hosting a ball tonight and I volunteered to come help set up for the event,” he said calmly, still refusing to meet her eyes.

“And a fine setting-up you seem to be doing, too,” she said gratingly. She knew he had only come to infuriate her—his favorite pastime. He wasn’t helping at all. All he was doing was standing at the foot of the staircase staring at himself in a mirror like the arrogant, narcissistic git that he was.

He finally turned and met her irritated gaze with an insistent and longing gaze of his own. She knew that look and she hated it. She hated it because she liked it. She hated herself for liking it. And she hated him for making her feel so confused.

She knew what he was going to say before he did. She had heard this a thousand times before and she was tired of it. “No, absolutely not, Solo.”

“Are we doing this again?” he asked, as if impatient.

“ _You’re_ the one doing this. How many times do I have to reject you before you stop trying to propose to me?” she said, exasperated.

“How many times do I have to propose before you stop rejecting me?”

“You’re _insufferable_ ,” she said, the venom in her voice making him feel somewhat heady.

“So I’ve heard,” he said, a fleeting trace of sadness in his voice.

Rey turned around as if to leave him, but turned back and approached him once more as if she had suddenly made up her mind about something. She stopped just inches away from him, obviously seething. He didn’t mind in the least.

“Actually, _Mr. Solo,”_ she said, drawing out his name in contempt, “I’ve been meaning to have a word with you about your conduct toward me.”

“My conduct toward you has been nothing but favorable, Miss Palpatine,” he said.

“That’s precisely it!” she said, as if he was supposed to understand. “The attentions that you pay me in public are simply unacceptable. You allow no one else to dance with me at every single ball! I would simply walk away and leave you without a partner if it was not so horridly impolite.”

“I don’t recall you having a problem with being ‘horridly impolite’ toward me before, Miss Palpatine,” he replied dryly, vividly recalling being labeled a “nerf herder” just moments before.

She ignored that. “I must demand that you stop. I’m sure you will have no problem finding other partners at any ball you attend. I myself know of many other young ladies who would like to dance with you and are significantly more tolerable than I.”

“And yet, I do not wish to dance with anyone but you,” he said, his voice infuriatingly calm.

“If you keep insisting to dance with me and only me, people will believe that there is something between us!” Rey tried to explain while straining to keep her voice from reaching an unnaturally high pitch. “People are _already_ talking about it! And, I will make this very, very clear— there is _nothing_ between us. _Nothing.”_

“That can be arranged,” he said, a smirk crossing his lips as he stared down at her.

She suddenly realized just how close they were standing and saw his gaze rest just briefly on her lips. “Don’t you _dare,”_ she said, stepping away from him, her eyes narrowing. His eyes only simmered with something very near amusement.

Her teeth clenched in annoyance, she continued, “Once again, there is _nothing_ between us. But people see you singling me out at each and every ball and they think that you will ask me to marry you at any moment!”

“They’re not wrong. I already have.”

“That’s not the point! If you keep paying me special attentions, people are going to keep thinking we are together!!”

“It’s not my fault that others interpret your loathing hate-filled glances as gazes of burning desire,” he said in the same _infuriatingly_ unruffled, slightly-sarcastic manner, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

She wanted to hit him.

“If you’re so sure that you want me to ignore you from now on, Miss Palpatine,” he said after a long, tense pause, “then perhaps we can make a deal.”

 _What kind of deal?_ She stared at him, her eyes narrowing even further, silently demanding an explanation.

“Since you so obviously wish to avoid me, I will leave you completely alone at the ball tonight. My deal is this, if anyone at the ball agrees to dance with you, you will never have to speak to me again.”

“Certainly a woman of my talents will have no problem finding another suitable partner at the ball.”

“Indeed,” he said, gazing down at her with an expression on his face she couldn’t decipher.

“What’s in it for you then, Mr. Solo? If somehow I am left without a partner for the entire ball? What do you get in return?”

A roguish smirk lit up his face. “Then you’ll have to marry me.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and she felt her cheeks redden in spite of herself. “M—marry you?” The shock at his extremely unprincipled offer was surely evident on her face.

He nodded. “Surely you’re not afraid to accept my proposition?” he said with one eyebrow raised as if challenging her.

“As if I would back down from such a foolish proposition made by the likes of you,” she said, attempting to voice her contempt despite the conflicting thoughts that were always churning inside her when they argued. “Of all the ways to get me to marry you, you picked the one which basically guarantees your failure,” she scoffed at him.

He only smiled smugly down at her. “We’ll see. It’s a deal then?”

“Yes,” she said fiercely. “I look forward to tonight. Why, by tomorrow, I won’t have to so much as speak a single word to you!”

“Undoubtedly,” he muttered under his breath, his voice dripping with sarcasm. She shot him one last glare before walking to the foot of the staircase.

“Good day, Mr. Solo,” she said, begrudgingly attempting a gesture of courtesy for her grandfather’s sake.

“See you tonight, Miss Palpatine,” he said without looking at her. His gaze had returned to the mirror.

He watched her march up the staircase with a knowing smile. He had plans to work out before the ball tonight. Once Rey was out of sight, Ben rushed out the door, a confident and cunning smirk on his face.

* * *

Rey sat in her bedroom, the beginning of sunset bathing the room in orange light. Her good friend Rose stood behind her, meticulously arranging the ringlets that framed Rey’s face. She didn’t feel like a conversation at the moment, but Rose was chatty from excitement. Unlike herself, Rose seemed to enjoy the grandeur of the ballroom.

“I believe Armitage will be here tonight. He is _such_ a wet rag, don’t you think?” she was saying. Rey didn’t bother to respond.

Rose knew Rey better than anyone, and she could tell that Rey had something on her mind. “Are you all right, Rey?” she asked with an expression of mild concern.“Is something wrong?”

“No...nothing. I—I’m fine.”

“Well then, at least try to cheer up a bit! After all, I know Mr. Solo will be at the ball tonight and he’ll be sure to ask you to dance again.”

Rey sighed. “I certainly hope not.”

Rose leaned over Rey’s shoulder, her face quizzical. “Why not? He asks you to dance at _every_ ball, Rey. You know he refuses to dance with anyone else? If I’m not mistaken, Kaydel tried to get him to dance with her at the last ball, but he ignored her and went to look for you! If he keeps this up, he’ll be proposing any day now!”

Rey scoffed. “You think?” she asked, barely disguising her sarcasm. She had not told Rose about Ben’s past proposals. While she confided most of her problems in Rose, she had no desire to tell her about this one.

Rose’s browsed furrowed in somewhat naive confusion. “You—you wouldn’t be happy about that? It’s clear that he loves you.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Of course! Why else would he pay you such special attentions? Why, it’s unusual for a man to have the same partner at a ball for even two dances in one night. But Mr. Solo will dance with no one else! Why, he must be pining clear away for you, Rey!”

Rey thought back to the longing gaze in his eyes that she had noticed earlier. She remembered the hint of sadness that had passed over his features when she had called him insufferable. But she reminded herself of the fact that he was an arrogant, conceited git that infuriated her, and pushed her conflicted feelings away for the moment.

“I am thoroughly convinced that he does not love me, Rose. And I certainly do not need nor want him.”

“Well, you surely don’t _need_ him. Your family’s fortune might even exceed his own. But I’ve seen the way you look at him when he isn’t speaking to you. If I didn’t know better, I would say that you _do_ want him.”

Rey blushed against her will. “I certainly do _not_ want him, Rose. After tonight I believe I will be rid of him for good.”

“Oh. You mean to reject him if he proposes, then?”

“Absolutely.”

Rose sighed, knowing her friend to be quite stubborn at times. “Maybe you should give him a chance, Rey,” she said earnestly. “Don’t make a rash decision you’ll regret.”

Rey sighed as Rose helped her put the finishing touches on her outfit. “I don’t think I can ever love him, Rose. We—we argue too much.” It was a feeble excuse, but that was suddenly the only reason she could think of for having turned down his offers of marriage in the past. In truth, she could have found him very agreeable if not for his irritating personality.

Rose giggled, hiding her mouth behind one of her petite hands. “Someone once told me that the arguing is just lovers figuring out how to act around each other. Eventually it just becomes teasing, and teasing is part of the enjoyment that precedes the kissing.”

 _“Rose!”_ Rey said, laughing in spite of herself. She shook off the fact that Rose was almost always right about such things. What did Rose know of arguments and lovers, anyway? 

Rey felt more confused and conflicted now than ever. No, she would not allow herself to feel anything toward Ben Solo. She decided to put him out of her mind entirely during the ball. At least she would be able to enjoy herself tonight.

She would deal with her unsettled emotions in the morning, she told herself, as she and Rose made their way toward the ballroom.

* * *

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Not in the slightest, Armitage.”

“You know she’ll still refuse to marry you, right?”

They stood whispering in one corner of the ballroom watching the guests file in the door. Ben knew his plan was a bit outrageous (would he have made a plan at all if it wasn’t?), but he had hoped that at least Armitage would understand. Apparently not.

“I know,” he responded, looking a bit dejected as he wistfully watched Rey and her friend Rose enter the ballroom together.

“Then why on earth did you do it? It must have cost you a fortune!”

“I can afford it...and she’s worth it, Armitage.”

Hux glared at him. “Worth it? She’s not even pretty. If you don’t care about her family’s money or status, then why make so much effort for her? I know you can find a much more agreeable young lady willing to accept your hand for much less.”

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she, Armitage?” he said, still staring after her.

He hadn’t heard a thing he had just said, had he? “You’re hopeless,” Hux muttered under his breath.

* * *

Rey wandered around the ballroom, confused and angry. She had been here almost an hour already and no one had even tried to speak to her. She heard yet another song end and wondered what was going on here. Surely anyone seeing her without a partner would gladly offer to dance with her. She was the host’s granddaughter, after all. And it would simply be rude to deny her a dance if she asked. So why had nobody said so much as a word to her yet?

The knowledge of the consequences of her deal with Ben weighed heavy on her mind; she was starting to get desperate now. She suddenly spotted Poe out of the corner of her eye, deep in conversation with a group of friends. Well, he wasn’t known to deny anyone a dance, and at least she was acquainted with him. Rey walked up to their group but was met with only wary glances.

“Mr. Dameron, would you mind dancing with me?” she asked, her plea disguised as a casual request.

Poe went unnaturally silent, staring at Rey as if unsure what to do. Then he suddenly turned to a friend of Rose’s, Kaydel, who happened to be passing by behind him.

“Uh, Miss Connix, may I have this dance?” he asked hurriedly, avoiding Rey’s incredulous gaze.

“Oh, uh—of course,” Kaydel replied, seeming almost as perplexed as Rey was.

The rest of Poe’s group dispersed as Poe led Kaydel out to the ballroom floor, leaving Rey alone and severely annoyed. What on earth was going on here?

She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that a new song had begun and she would remain without a partner until this dance was over. Looking for a seat to ease her weight off her sore ankles, she happened to glance up at the staircase leading to the second floor above the ballroom. Ben stood there, undoubtedly staring right at her. Although she could not discern his expression from her point of view, she could just imagine the smug look on his face, seeing her without a partner yet again. She scowled at him, knowing full well that he could not see her facial expression. This was all his fault...somehow.

She settled into a seat at the far end of the ballroom with an exasperated sigh. When she finally tired of staring daggers at him, Rey searched the crowd for Rose. She couldn’t find her. Most likely she had a partner and was enjoying dancing the night away. Rey sighed, remembering what Rose had said to her earlier. _It’s clear that he loves you. You should give him a chance, Rey._

She couldn’t escape her feelings for him, no matter how much she tried to hate him and no matter how many times they argued. All their bickering was really a mask for what she truly felt about him deep within herself. And Rose was right...it was clear that he loved her. So why had she rejected his proposals? At first she had put it down to his maddening attitude, but she knew that she was just deluding herself. It was her own pride and stubborn comportment that kept her from acknowledging her emotions. And her abrasive attitude toward him had elicited his own brash response, making their every encounter a battle of wills.

She now felt a twinge of regret. Maybe she had rejected him a bit hastily. But she had been afraid. She had heard of so many unhappy marriages that she had interpreted their banter as a bad sign. A sign that it would never work between them. And she had hidden behind a make-believe hatred and scorned his offers of marriage again and again.

Yet...he had never given up on her. Even now as she sulked deep in thought in a corner of the ballroom, she could feel his gaze still resting on her. It was not the intense gaze he had given her when they had argued earlier. Rather, it was a soft gaze that she now recognized as full of love and yearning. For the first time in months, she allowed herself to realize just how much she missed looking into his eyes. As begrudging as she had tried to be, she had actually enjoyed dancing with him. And just being around him. But her fear of unrequited affection had made her hide these feelings away...

Maybe she would take Rose’s advice. Maybe she would give Ben another chance...

“Rey!” she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning in surprise, she found Rose standing behind her.

“The last dance is about to start,” Rose said urgently, making Rey wonder just how long she had been sitting there.

As Rose left her to find a partner for herself, Rey hung back anxiously. Ben now stood at the foot of the staircase with a friend of his she knew to be named Armitage Hux. An ache began in her heart when she saw the crestfallen expression on Ben’s face. He clearly was not enjoying the ball any more than she was. Rey took a deep breath and strode in his direction.

* * *

“Armitage, please, stop it.”

Hux elbowed him again, harder this time.

“What _is_ it, Hux?” Ben said irritably, turning to face him.

“Miss Palpatine seems to be coming over to give you a piece of her mind.” Ben’s eyes widened as he spotted Rey striding toward him though the crowd. He wondered why she would be approaching him now. The final dance of the evening was about to start, and he knew for a fact that she had not yet succeeded in dancing with any of the gentlemen present. Why would she waste her final chance at avoiding the consequences of his offer by coming to berate him?

“I’ll give you two some...space,” said Hux, stepping away and into the mingling crowd of nobility.

Ben swallowed hard as she approached him, afraid that maybe she suspected—

“Mr. Solo,” she said, curtsying ever-so-slightly but never breaking eye contact. It was a gesture of respect that she had never paid him before, despite both of their high social standings. He raised an eyebrow.

“Miss Palpatine.”

Rey glanced back toward the crowd and heard the music start up. It was now or never. She had to ask him before losing courage.

“Would you do me the honor of being my partner for the final dance, Mr. Solo?” she asked, with less sarcasm in her voice than usual.

“But—Miss Palpatine, you—you remember our agreement, do you not? Wouldn’t you prefer to seek out another partner for this dance?” he said, incredulous at her request. She didn’t seem anywhere near as hateful as she had made herself seem during their earlier conversation. Nothing had changed in the past few hours, had it?Well...the only thing that had changed was that they had been apart for the entire ball. Had she...missed him? Been lonely without his constant presence? He had felt empty the entire night, watching her from a distance. He preferred her angry affronts than to feel so far and estranged from her. Had she possibly felt the same way?

Rey realized with a start that, in her preoccupation with her own hidden feelings in regards to him, she had forgotten the deal they had to agreed to just that morning. But, almost against her will, she also realized that she would rather dance with Ben than with anyone else. She had felt so lonely without him tonight...

“I have made my request, Mr. Solo. The dance is about to begin,” she said, feebly avoiding the implications of his question.

Ben nodded, not wanting or needing to inquire further. A glimmer of hope shone in his eyes as he led her out to the center of the ballroom.

* * *

Whirling around each other in slow motion as they went through the painstakingly familiar movements of the dance, Rey and Ben considered each other, locked in a tense and complicated silence. 

But Rey reluctantly, slowly allowed herself to enjoy the familiarity of the dance. And of Ben. Loosening her grip on her own emotions, she immersed herself in the repetitive motions and let herself drown just slightly in the depth of his gaze. The hungry tendrils of repressed longing for him were relentlessly trying to break through within her; but, although she no longer doubted that he loved her, she also knew that she had made him acutely aware that she hated him. How could she tell him now that, in reality, she cared for him deeply?

“May I ask you a question, Miss Palpatine?” he said softly, breaking both the taciturn silence and her train of thought.

She nodded, still trying to extract her attention from the deep brown of his eyes.

“If you married, Miss Palpatine, would you marry for love?”

She almost scoffed. What a question to ask in light of their earlier agreement... “These days one does not marry for love. One marries for convenience,” she said matter-of-factly, though not without a hint of wistfulness or perhaps regret in her voice.

“I would say that our circumstances are convenient enough to allow for an exception to that, wouldn’t you think?” he said. It was true...there was no need for either of them to marry for money or position.

“Tell me, Miss Palpatine,” he continued, “if you did marry for love, who would you choose?”

_You._

The answer had come to her mind without hesitation, despite the internal walls she had tried so hard to build to hold her feelings back. At that moment, she finally admitted to herself that she loved him. She couldn’t bring herself to say it, though. She knew he was indirectly, silently pleading for her to say it—to confirm what they had both known for months now. But she just...she wasn’t quite ready.

She let the question hang in the air between them, but dared not ask him the same in return. Because she knew exactly what his answer would be.

Her eyes told him all he needed to know, but he wished she would just admit it. It would be so much more simple if she let go of her pride and acknowledged what she felt for him. He had already done so long ago. Why couldn’t she?

But he wouldn’t force her into it. He had known since before he had suggested it that he would not follow through on their agreement. If she chose to willingly accept his hand, that was another thing entirely. But he would never make her his unless she wanted it. Perhaps Hux had been right...all of this had just been a vain attempt at getting her to understand just how lonely he would feel without her. Despite the heartache it would cause him, he knew that, if she chose to leave him behind entirely, he would have to let her go.

As the song subsided and the couples dispersed, Rey turned to walk away from him, her emotions a raging war inside her.

“Wait...Miss Palpatine? Rey?”

She turned to him, shaken at the sound of her name on his lips.

He took a deep breath. “I won’t hold you to our agreement. It was wrong of me to ask it of you. It was...unfair on my part and I apologize,” he said quickly before he lost the strength to speak. “You may also wish to know that I leave my estate tomorrow morning and I do not know when I shall return. I won’t be a bother to you anymore, I suppose. Good night, Miss Palpatine.” Ben nodded to her without making eye contact and walked away before she could even respond.

She stood, rooted to the spot, stunned. Weeks ago she might have been delighted (or pretended to be) to hear that he would be gone. But now all she felt was an overwhelming sadness and even a sense of loss. Was it her fault that he was leaving? Would she ever be able to see him again andfinally gather up the courage to admit that she did love him?

She was surprised, too, that he had not held her to her end of their bargain. What had he meant that it was “unfair on his part”? She walked among the dissipating crowd, lost in confusion and aching loneliness, hearing snippets of conversations but not listening to any of them. She was only slightly pulled out of her abstraction by the mention of Ben’s name in the whispered conversation of two gentlemen whose names she did not know.

“...did he pay you?” one was saying.

“Yes, before the ball began.”

“You too, then? He must have paid off every gentleman in the room!”

“All for that girl. I had thought they were together already, but for such a sum as _that_ , I would say he’s afraid of him rejecting her.”

The two gentlemen grew suspiciously quiet when they perceived her walking by, but not until much later would Rey actually comprehend what she had overheard.

In vain she wandered around, trying to catch a glimpse of him. But it was fruitless. She knew he had already left the ball. Her heart felt heavy with the weight of her unconfessed love for Ben. But now...he would be gone.

Suddenly finding herself almost completely alone in the spacious ballroom, Rey blinked back tears.

* * *

Rey tossed and turned in bed, her body aching and her heart aching even more. She still hadn’t slept that night at all. The moon flooded her bedroom with light, but that was not what was keeping her up in these early hours of the morning. It was that feeling that she couldn’t shake. Regret, maybe? Regret that she hadn’t had a chance to tell Ben that she really had wanted to take his hand all along. No...she _had_ had a chance. Many, in fact. But she had wasted them...

She sat up in bed suddenly. He had said he would leave in the morning. There was still time. But no—it was a foolish idea, wasn’t it?

She decided she didn’t care.

She quietly slipped out of bed, carefully to avoid the places where she knew the floor creaked. She was halfway out her bedroom door before she remembered, with a start, that she was still in her nightgown. She hurried to change into something more presentable and then rushed through the familiar yet cold passageways until she reached the back door that led to the estate’s kitchen. As stealthily as she could, she opened the door and then closed it behind her, noticing that clouds had now covered up the bright moon and hidden her in darkness. She took a deep breath and set out in the direction of the Solo estate on foot.

* * *

Rey trudged toward the lights that she knew to be Ben’s estate, already almost regretting her hasty decision to come here.

It had all been fine—until it had started to rain.

Now she was up to her ankles in mud and completely soaked. Certainly not presentable-looking at all. For the thousandth time, she pulled wet strands of hair out of her eyes. It was pouring now, and she could barely see the ground in front of her.

Her foot caught on a rock in the path and slipped, forcing Rey to land on her knees to break her fall. _Great. Now I’m covered in mud,_ she thought. Maybe she should have waited until morning? No...by then Ben would have been gone...

She heaved herself back to her feet with an annoyed sigh. She limped over to the front door, pushing every other thought out of her mind and trying to think of some excuse for arriving at the Solo estate at this outrageous hour. 

Rey took a deep breath and knocked.

* * *

Ben had not been lying to her when he told her that he was to leave his estate. He had been planning to travel sometime anyway. But only this evening had he decided to leave the following morning. If she had accepted his hand, things would have been much different. But now that it seemed he would remain alone, he thought that perhaps leaving home would divert him from the lonely ache inside of him, if only a little bit.

Now he was awake, finished packing but unable to get any sleep. It had to be far past midnight now. Rain poured outside his windows, the calm sound of the raindrops contrasting starkly with the storm of confusion within him. He was still unsure what to make of Rey’s conduct at the ball. He could tell she felt the same abouthim as he did about her, but what puzzled him was that she still refused to acknowledge it. Or maybe he was just deceiving himself. But he just _couldn’t_ have imagined that lonely, wistful gleam in her hazel eyes when she had looked at him...

A sudden knock at the front door startled him. Who could possibly be visiting him at this time of night? Being the closest to the front door, he strode over to it cautiously. He opened the door and, to his shock, found a muddy, soaking-wet Rey standing in his doorway. Her eyes widened. She had not expected him to be the one to answer the door.

“Rey? What—what happened to you? Come in, you’re getting soaked through,” he said, still thoroughly confused.

She closed the door behind her, blushing at the thought of how ragged she must look. She stepped toward him, but she slipped on the wet floor, narrowly missing a fall. Letting out a quiet gasp, she realized she had fallen straight into Ben’s arms. Neither of them tried to pull away. Instead, a bit shaken, Ben embraced her, ignoring the rainwater she was currently dripping on his floors and the mud she was getting on his outfit.

After a moment, he let her go and she stood in front of him, seemingly at a loss for words. “I—I’ll go get you something to dry off with—”

“Wait,” she said hoarsely, “please, don’t leave.”

“What—”

“I—I’m so sorry. I’ve been so _blind,_ Ben,” she said, her eyes filling with tears and her voice trembling.

“Sorry for what, Rey?” Ben asked earnestly.

“For—for _everything!”_

“Rey, calm down, I—”

“No, listen to me, Solo, _please_. I was such a fool!At first, I was afraid that you didn’t love me. Then, when I knew you did, I was so afraid that it wouldn’t work out that I hid my feelings behind anger! And I—I _hurt_ you! I convinced myself that you were arrogant and selfish, but it was _I_ who was proud and conceited. I shouldn’t have rejected you. I—I _did_ want to take your hand, Ben. I still want to—” she said hurriedly, shaking with sobs.

“Rey,” he whispered comfortingly, pulling her into another embrace. “It’s ok. I was horrible to you, too.”

She sniffed tremulously, her head against his chest. _“Ben,”_ she whispered, her breath coming in short gasps.

“So...you did want to take my hand? My—my offer still stands, but if—”

“Yes, Ben. I _do_ want to. There’s no one else I would want to spend my life with. I know that now. I—I’ve known it for far too long.”

Ben smiled, holding her close, his heart full. “You said you were blind, Rey?”

She nodded, shivering slightly but warm in Ben’s loving embrace.

“Well, I’ve been told that all love is blind at first.”

Rey chuckled quietly. “Well, then maybe I don’t want to see,” she whispered, her voice somewhat muffled against him.

Suddenly, she remembered the words she had heard earlier and all the night’s past occurrences seemed to fall into place like pieces of a puzzle. She smirked at the thought.

“Ben?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Do you want to tell me just how much it cost you to bribe every gentleman at the ball last night to keep them from talking to me?” she said, smug amusement in her voice.

He smiled. So she _did_ know.... In fact, it had cost him quite a bit. But it had been worth it, for her. To ensure that she wouldn’t succeed in winning their deal and leaving him behind forever. He just couldn’t bear the thought of never speaking to her again. Thankfully it made no difference now. She would always be with him.

Holding her close against him, he whispered, a smile in his voice.

“No, I don’t think I will.”


End file.
